


To Form a Detective Agency

by PlasmUser



Series: Webbi and Plasm's Sonic AU thing [8]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Blood, Graphic Violence, Guns, Hostage Situations, Long story I guess, M/M, Ray is only mentions, Team Chaotix meeting, but this is how our version of the team chaotix met and i thought you guys would like to read it, honestly its pretty dark i'm sorry, mentions of trauma, tags to be added later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:08:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26769253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlasmUser/pseuds/PlasmUser
Summary: This is where we started. And where we would end.
Relationships: Espio the Chameleon/Vector the Crocodile
Series: Webbi and Plasm's Sonic AU thing [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1748845
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

Resting his head against the kitchen table of the small apartment, Vector lets out a tired groan as his friend nervously paces around him. 

“Vector you do realize you don’t have to take this job right? Not even the police could catch this guy. And if that big wig’s goonies can’t handle this guy then what makes you think that you could? It could be a suicide mission Vector.” Mighty hisses, trying to keep his voice down so the other person in the apartment can sleep. 

Sitting beside Vector, the armadillo places a hand on the larger Mobian’s shoulder. “Seriously Vector. Let them handle this on their own.”

“No Mighty. Ya don’t get it. This job. It could be my big turnin’ point. The job that proves my worth and lets everyone know how great I can be! And Mighty, the money. Think of the money! With this kind of scratch, we could easily pay off that stupid building and get you out of this apartment…. And we could start up the agency!”

Giving his friend a tired look, Mighty lets out a quiet sigh. “Alright. Alright, Vector. If you think it’s for the best, I won’t stop you. But please, just, promise me that if you get in any trouble you’ll call me okay?” Giving the shoulder a reassuring squeeze, Mighty stands up and walks back to his small living room, having given up his bed to the new addition to his household, a timid flying squirrel just a couple of years younger than the armadillo. 

Hours later, Vector was wishing that he had taken Mighty up on his offer. Standing in the dimly lit room, the large crocodile could feel the tension as the nervous businessman hid behind his desk, trembling with his hands on his head as another of the guards was taken out by their unseen foe. 

The large Mobian’s tail angrily swished through the air as Vector hunkered low to the ground hoping that he could catch their attacker once he noticed the pattern. Vector didn’t believe in ghosts, and very few Mobians could cloak themselves perfectly without the help of some advanced (probably Eggman made) tech. So that left a small list of animals this could be. If the scent was anything to go with and the fact that some of the attacks came from the walls and the ceiling, he was guessing Chameleon. And if his hunch was right, then there was always a tick, something that would make the cloaking fall. He just had to figure out what it was. 

Using the distraction that the fighting bodyguards around him provided, Vector easily slithered across the floor, using his long body to slip behind some of the furniture in the dark office space, his eyes scanning the walls as the second to last bodyguard was killed, what looked to be a shuriken sticking out of the man’s right eyeball, his chest littered with kunai. 

Lifting his eyes once more, Vector finally spotted it; the glimmer of something passing the light in the window. Pushing himself up onto all fours, he dug his claws into the wooden flooring right as the assassin reached the desk his boss was using for cover. Propelling himself forward, Vector wrapped his large arms around the attacker, attempting to subdue the smaller Mobian. They struggled at first, elbowing his ribs and kicking their feet. Vector let out a hiss of pain, the sound rumbling low in his throat and chest, as the sting of a blade slicing into the flesh of his arm and cheek caused him to lose his grip on the slippery Mobian. Cursing, Vector spins around watching as the individual quickly scampers out of view, that nearly perfect cloaking ability making it harder to see him in the chaos as more of the business man’s bodyguards file into the room. The sound of metal clanging against the floor told him exactly where his target was going.

“Get outta my way.” the crocodile hisses, shouldering past the confused guards.

Bounding into the well-lit hall, Vector pressed the side of his head against the wall, listening for any sounds of the assassin in the ventilation system. Slowly following the wall, Vector stopped once he heard it; a small, dull scraping sound, the sound of a metal object being dragged across a metal surface. Sinking low, the crocodile slowly followed the sound, finally making it to the turn at the end of the hall. If his hunch was correct, the assassin didn’t know the building well and would exit the most likely confusing ventilation system as quickly as possible. All he had to do was wait. 

Standing at his full height, Vector pressed his back against the wall right at the turn in the hall, waiting for the sound of the vent slowly touching the floor. Right as the metal hit the cheap linoleum, Vector was on them, swinging his arms around the invisible assailant, he gripped them close to his chest once again, proud of himself when he felt their arms trapped between their body and his own. 

“Ya best stop struggling. I don’t wanna hafta break your bones.” he gruffed out, tightening his arms against the smaller body, feeling the other Mobian still in his arms. 

Turning on his heel, the large man carries his prey back into the office where his client was hiding. Upon entering the room, his captive’s fingers dug into the muscles of his chest. Stepping between the remaining guards, Vector almost felt like he himself was walking towards the chopping block, the smaller Mobian trembling in his arms before they began to struggle once more, twisting and writhing in his arms. The crocodile winced as a long tail coiled tightly around his arm, their scales rubbing uncomfortably against his own as the grip on his forearm tightened painfully. Growling, the larger Mobian twists his head to loosely close his large jaws around their neck to hold them in place. Tightening his grip, the crocodile is surprised at how small the chameleon really is. As their cloak falls, Vector can feel the assassin slump in his arms, their own arms and legs trembling against his torso. The clatter of knives hitting the floor was the only signal he needed.

Slowly releasing his jaw he pulls his head back, looking down at the trembling chameleon. The once scared businessman rises from his hiding spot, shakily pushing his glasses back up onto his face. With a little hiccup, the hamster Mobian trembles as the glare he receives from the assassin before squeaking and pointing to the door. 

“T-there’s a cage in there! Just. Put him away until the authorities arrive!” Fixing his tie the hamster attempts to groom his mussed hair, stepping thoughtlessly over the body of one of his old guards. “And stay there until they arrive. I don’t want to risk him getting loose.”

Groaning Vector begins to shuffle towards the other room, the motion causing the chameleon to begin struggling all over again. Managing to wiggle one arm free from the large crocodile's bear hug, the chameleon jammed the heel of his hand up against the larger man’s lower jaw, relishing in the hiss of pain the larger man let out. 

“Stahp that!” Vector snarls, having to struggle to keep his arms around the wiggling chameleon “Yer worse than the cat Mighty brought home. Stay. STILL!” finally making it to the cage that looked barely big enough to fit the smaller Mobian, Vector yelps as he almost drops the struggling man before he grips the chameleon’s whole head and lifts him by it, frowning as the assassin tenses his hand before he opens the cage and tosses him in, shutting and locking the glorified kennel.

In a matter of seconds, the heavily clothed Mobian began thrashing against the door, hissing in frustration at the padlock on the outside. For several minutes Vector watched as the small body repeatedly rammed against the metal bars, pants, whimpers and hisses filling the room as he eventually flips, gripping the top of the cage and pushing against the corners as if to find some weak spot in the welding. 

“Hey. Yer gonna hurt yourself if you keep that up.” Vector mumbles, crouching to look at the panicked chameleon’s golden eyes, really, they were one of the only features he could see on the black-clad Mobian. Reaching up, he grips one of the metal bars of the cage, watching as the chameleon jumps back, crouching a bit lower in a defensive stance. “This thing. It’s pretty sturdy. You won’t get out of it without hurting yerself pretty good. And then ya’d have to get past me. And could ya do that if ya were hurt?” 

The smaller Mobian studied him for a moment, obviously put off by the lack of violence and aggression coming off of the other. A huff of breath left the other as small shoulders sagged and he let his head hang. Reaching out, the chameleon gripped the bars of the small kennel, pressing his head to the bars right beneath Vector’s hand. 

“Please.” the small man whispered. “You have to let me go.” 

“No way kid. I was hired to catch ya.” Vector snorts, moving to pull back from the kennel. Of course, this would happen, he showed an ounce of sympathy and the crook thought he could “nice guy” his way out of being caught. 

Instantly, that small hand gripped his thumb, the small fingers trembling as panicked eyes met his own. “No. You don’t understand. I have to go back there. Tonight. If I don’t-” he cut himself off, pulling his hand back as if burned and clutching it to his chest, his long tail curling around himself in the too-small space. 

Vector could feel the curiosity gnawing at his gut, a pang of sympathy for the obviously distressed reptile tugging at his heart. Letting out a frustrated sigh he pulls a chair up, straddling it and hugging the back of the chair to look down at the small chameleon. 

“Alright. Spill it. I’m givin’ ya a minute to convince me ta let ya out.” 

“You wouldn’t believe me if I did tell you.” the assassin muttered bitterly, pulling his knees up to his chest. In a second, he was cloaked once more, as if hiding from sight would comfort him.

Groaning, Vector rakes a large hand down his face, hissing as one of his claws grazes against the cut on his cheek. He had completely forgotten about it. Looking at his palm for a moment, he eventually looks back at the cage.

What he couldn’t see was the chameleon taking aim, holding one of his kunai up and aiming at the large man’s now exposed jugular. If he did this right, the man would be dead in a matter of seconds, giving him access to the key in his pocket. Then he could get his job done and get back and all of this would be over. This terrible nightmare would be over with and they could move away from his terrible city. He just had to make this hit-

“Yer right. I probably won’t believe what ya tell me. I’ve been at this game long enough to know that what ya tell me might be right bullshit, but ya won’t know if ya don’t try. And I won’t know if ya don’t tell. I’m offerin’ ta help ya if you’ll just let me.”

For once in his life, Espio hesitated. He hadn’t expected anything else to come from this stranger, let alone words of comfort and advice. Slowly lowering his blade, Espio thinks for a moment before tucking the knife in the small pouch on his side and slowly dropping his illusion to look up at the crocodile. 

“...he has my son.” he finally utters, lowering his head. “The man that I’m working for has my son.” 

Vector felt his heart drop into his stomach as he looked at the broken man before him. Quickly shaking his head the crocodile lets out a low click of annoyance. The guy had to be joking right? Or yanking his chain. He had seen crooks do this shit before; make up a tragic reason for their actions to try and get him to let them go or go easy on them. 

Opening his mouth to say something, Vector is immediately cut off by the sounds of sirens in the distance. The authorities were on their way. In a matter of minutes, this guy would be out of his scales and he could collect his money and go one with his life. All he had to do is walk away…

But then he looked back at the chameleon whose eyes had widened in panic, turning back to Vector. Upon seeing the crocodile looking down at him, all signs of hope left the man, his eyes lowering. Reaching up, Espio tugs the cowl that covered his mouth down, letting out a tired sigh. 

“Listen. You don’t have to free me. Hell, you don’t even have to care about me. But please. Don’t let him hurt my son. I’ll give you the location just...please. Save my Charmy..” giving the crocodile one last pleading look, he gripped the bars to the kennel tightly. 

Vector’s eyes widened as the assassin revealed his face. This guy was either desperately trying to trick him, or he was telling the truth. Clenching his fists Vector lets out a final, frustrated grown before yanking the keys out of his pocket, gripping the padlock and jamming the key in. 

“So help me if yer lying ta me…” he hisses as the chameleon jumps in surprise. 

Reaching into the kennel, Vector grabs the smaller Mobian’s arm, tugging him out of the cramped space. “Now. give me just a second to make a phone call and we’ll go get this kid of yers. But trust me when I say this- if yer lying ta me, I’ll toss ya in that cell mahself, ya hearin’ me?” 

Hastily nodding, Espio has to fight the raw emotion filling his chest before he is crushed against the larger reptile’s chest for the third time that day. “Hold on tight, kay?” with a low growl Vector barrels forward, throwing himself through the window. Hell, with that exit, at least if shit went south he could just say he chased after the chameleon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'm here to warn you guys that this chapter gets pretty dark. For Charmy, For Vector. It's all dark. I just wanted to say. Violence in this chapter a lot. Sorry, I English real good. Heh. 
> 
> TW for Guns, blood, trauma, torture, uhm. Fire, hostage situations/blackmail, death, murder, backstabbing
> 
> So just be careful reading Charmy goes through a lot and if at any time you feel uncomfortable reading it I will not be upset if you back out I understand that this topic can be dark 
> 
> This is a collab with my lovely Webbi~

Meanwhile, in a large pitch-black room, panicked screaming and loud sobs echo throughout the blackness. Charmy sat in an office chair which had the wheels on the bottom crudely removed so that the metal hinges rest on the concrete floor beneath him, leather straps, presumably large leather belts, hold the Mobian back in his seat to prevent him from escaping. He had constantly tried to free his limbs from the binds that hold him to the chair but there was never any success to be had. He wasn’t strong enough. He was only 4 years old after all. 

He starts to quietly sob again thinking that the gang leader was right, maybe Espio did get caught. Or did they take him out themselves? Espio always said to be strong if that happened. He told him to get away from these freaks and sting them if he had to. Remembering Espio’s words causes the insect to burst into tears and sob even louder than before. 

Several minutes later he is startled by a loud metal door slamming. He muffles his sobs through his lips and squeezes his eyes shut to force the last of his tears out. He squints as the fluorescent lights above flicker on and lights up the room around him, nearly blinding the bee due to being in darkness for hours. He looks around and notices the dimly colored metal crates around him with crude graffiti tags all over them. 

A chinchilla Mobian woman was sobbing directly across from him. She was bound by similar leather straps, minus the color, and she was in a wooden dining room chair. She had old make-up running down her peach-colored muzzle and smeared lipstick on her mouth. He noticed she also had heavy bruising around her bare wrists and ankles. Before he can open his mouth to say anything his antennae twitches at the sound of heavy footsteps approaching from his left side where a large yellow crate obstructs his view of the culprits.

Charmy shoots a glare through his wet, tear-filled eyes as the men come into view and one man responds by giving the boy a cold, harsh look before turning their attention to the woman across from him. 

“Well, ma’am… You didn’t give us what we wanted yesterday. You know what that means, right?” a rat Mobian, seemingly the leader of the group of three, sneered. 

The chinchilla’s expression went from a somber one to an expression of terror as she shook her head frantically, letting out quiet whines. “N-No, you can’t! Please I can’t d--”

The rat cut her off with a hush and put his long boney finger over her lips. He shook his head and a small smile appeared on his face as he looked down into her eyes. “Don’t want to scare the kid with that word…. Now, do we…?” 

As he finished his sentence his gecko cohort slammed a burlap sack over her head which caused the woman to erupt into shrieking causing any other captives the Charmy couldn’t currently see to start sobbing or screaming as well. Charmy flinched at the loud noises as he watched the woman kick her legs before they were inevitably bound to the legs of the chair by a buffalo Mobian, the third in the group of men.

The rat turned on his heel and smirked at the bee, strolling over to him with a slight cock to his head. “Hey, there pal… How you holdin’ up there?”

The child opens his mouth, only to let out a shaky noise from his throat, looking up at the man. He clenched all four of his fists and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the shrieks of the other around him. His eyes started to water as the last thing that Espio told him popped into his head again. Be strong, be strong, be strong… He heard a groan come from the man in front of him which caused his eyes to snap open again. 

Now stepping to the side so that the other two could move the woman’s chair closer to Charmy’s, the rat gives the kid a very annoyed look. “I was just askin’ ya know…” The man shakes his head as his cohorts step back from the chair, allowing the leader of the three to pace around the woman’s chair. This caused her to panic even more but the bag muffled her sobs and whines. After three circles around the woman, he stops on the woman’s left side and faces Charmy, fiddling with something in his back pocket.

Charmy stutters a bit as he speaks, “What’re you gonna do?” 

The rat gives a knowing smirk at the child before a metallic click is heard and a barrel of a gun can be heard clicking into place. “Demonstrating.” the rat spoke in a sing-song voice holding a gun up to the chinchilla woman’s bagged head, about where her nose is. “Wanted to remind you of the stakes since your daddy isn’t here to protect you from the real world, kid.”

Charmy’s eyes water a little bit as he only half realizes what is happening here. He listens to the woman start shrieking again and wishes that he could cover his eyes and antenna right about now but these stupid straps were in his way. He somehow manages to hear the man start humming a tune despite the shrieks at this point being pretty ear-piercing. This intrigues Charmy enough to open his eyes mostly out of curiosity on what he’s humming. 

“I love when they’re lively before they die.” At this, he pulls the trigger, and with a loud pop and a flash of light, the woman instantly goes limp. The burlap sack now has a growing bloodstain on the woman’s nostrils area and blood starts to gush out of the bottom of the sack and all over her torso covering her chair and the concrete floor beneath them. The blood puddle growing beneath the chair.

Charmy stared, as he couldn’t take his eyes off of the woman that was thrashing about just seconds ago. All he could hear was ringing as he started to feel extremely lightheaded. Thanks to the ringing messing with his hearing he didn’t even realize as the executioner walked up beside him, petting his hair before gripping a handful of his bee fuzz and forcing him to tear his eyes away from the scene before him and look the man in the eyes.

“That’ll be you if yer daddy doesn’t come back in the next hour. Better enjoy yerself while ya can cause it ain’t lookin’ good fer ya.” 

He laughs to himself before spitting in the bee’s eye causing Charmy to squeeze his eye shut to try and blink out the saliva, tears welling up in his eyes even more as he bites his lip to stifle any sobs as the men leave the woman in front of him to go deal with another person a few metal crates down. Once the men are out of sight he lowers his head and stares at the blood puddle growing and inching closer to his bare feet. He stares at his reflection in the thick, crimson liquid and tears fall into the puddle, obstructing his reflection with ripples.

“What if Espio IS dead…?” Charmy muttered quietly, his voice trembling between sobs. He starts to wail and cry for his chameleon caretaker knowing that he can’t hear him. 

Nearly twenty minutes after the two had broken out of the office building, Vector and Espio stood in front of a seemingly abandoned warehouse, the smaller of the two growing antsy and more impatient with every passing moment. Shuffling around, the chameleon paces around the small area beside Vector. 

“What are we waiting for. I need-” the assassin is silenced with a hand raised by the larger Mobian. 

“Just wait for one more minute. I’m sure he’ll be here any minute.”

“He? How is one person going to help us in this situation? There are at least 30 of them in there. Maybe more. One extra body will only do us good by being a shield at this point.”

As if on cue, the sound of boots crunching against gravel filled the air around them, silencing their shared whispers. Spinning around, the chameleon tensed, lifting one of the kunai out of the small pouch on his thigh and taking aim. Out of the darkness, a red armadillo steps forward, offering a small wave to the two. 

“‘Bout time you called me Vector. I was getting kind of bored sitting back at home waiting for you to need my help.” Rolling his shoulder, Mighty stops only when he sees the black-clad chameleon standing beside the large crocodile. “Who’s that?” he points, not seeming to care that said chameleon has a knife aimed at him. 

Placing a hand in front of the assassin, Vector waves the two of them closer. “This is..well. Long story short this is the guy I was supposed to catch... And in there, those guys have his kid. We’re busting his kid out.” Vector gives Mighty a pleading look as if these acts of sympathy were regular for him. 

Giving the two a confused look, Mighty pauses for only a second before shrugging. “Works for me-” 

The group tenses as a gunshot rang out of the warehouse behind the group. Spinning on his heel, the chameleon doesn’t wait for the other two members of the group to follow him as he attempts to make his way to the warehouse. A large hand claps down on the assassin’s shoulder, causing the smaller Mobian to tense and glad back at the crocodile. Giving the chameleon a toothy, full-mouthed grin, an image that sends a chill down the smaller Mobian’s spine, the assassin is confused about the feeling of relief that conflicts with his body’s natural instincts before the group moves towards the warehouse. 

Busting through one of the side doors was easy enough, and with the chameleon’s cloaking ability they were able to take out any cameras the group had set up. The only thing they had to do was find the kid. Vector knew that there was no chance of getting out of here without bloodshed, but the quicker they got the kid and any other captives out, the better. Following behind the smaller man, Mighty and Vector were quickly ushered behind a large stack of crates as two dog Mobians walked past them. 

Indicating for the two to stay here, the chameleon cloaks himself once again, slowly following the guards. In a flurry of movements, the two drop to the ground, blood leaking from the large cuts across their necks. Glancing over at Vector, Mighty offers a simple shrug in response to the chameleon’s quick actions before creeping after their ally. 

The further into the large room they went, the odder Vector began to feel. A strange tingling covered most of his skull as if something was trying to warn him…

Leaning towards Mighty, the crocodile began to whisper out of the corner of his mouth. “Don’t you feel like this is too easy..?”

Keeping teal eyes trained on the chameleon’s back, Mighty lightly tapped his knuckles against Vector’s. “Yeah. Almost like we’re being led into a trap.” 

Almost immediately, another loud bang filled the room, causing the group to jump in surprise. The chameleon stood in front of them, clutching a hand over his bloodied shoulder as several men surrounded them. Vector noticed that the smaller man clenched his teeth, but showed no other signs of slowing down as he cloaked himself and lunged forward. 

Mighty joined the fight a few seconds later, a single punch being enough to incapacitate any who dared to come in contact with him. Fighting against the overwhelming tingling in his skull, Vector spun on his heel, facing the men behind the group. So far he had counted ten, Mighty having taken out three already on his own. 

The two men before him shook lightly at the much larger Mobian before them. If Vector had one thing going for him, it was that most of the people who lived in this area hadn’t seen a monster of his size. Twisting his large frown into a snarl-filled grin, the crocodile cracks his knuckles, watching as the two rats in front of him begin to tremble in fear. Lunging forward, Vector swung his arms out, clotheslining the two and wrapping his large arms around their neck, squeezing until they crumbled against him. Dropping the two, the large man rejoined the small group, pleased to see that other than the one-shot, the group remained unscathed. 

Quickly tying his shredded cowl around his wound, the chameleon kneels to rifles through one of the men’s pockets, tugging a small key out and literally sighing with relief. Standing, the small man looks back at the two before offering them a small nod and moving forward into the room. 

Several more groups tried to stop the three, each one ending in failure. Vector was honestly glad he had called Mighty in for backup; the armadillo had always been a strong fighter, and given his boosted strength and resistance he was the best guy to bring into a situation like this. Slowly making their way towards a large hangar door, the chameleon quietly requested that Vector and Mighty held off the others slowly filtering towards them, wielding makeshift weapons as if they weren’t permitted to have anything. 

Pulling the key out of his pocket, Espio hastily fought the lock, yanking it free from the chains that held the door shut. Gripping the handle to the doors, the chameleon growled as he tried to lift the door up, only stopping once he noticed the rough welding job that was stopping him from opening the door between him and his son.

Cursing under his breath, Espio is almost ready to look for an alternate way into the room when the sound of hands slamming onto the metal door startled him out of his thoughts. Jumping in surprise, the chameleon looks up as Mighty grips the door, the thick metal crumpling like paper in the man’s hands. Giving the chameleon a playful wink, Mighty easily tears the door open, peeling the metal down and leaving a large hole in the door. 

“Shoulda done this in the first place huh?” He jokes before turning and making his way back towards Vector and throwing the crumpled metal into the group of goons, dealing a large amount of damage to their numbers. 

Ignoring the heat rushing to his cheeks, Espio climbs through the newly formed hole. He can hear the whimpers of a familiar, young voice in the back of the container. The small child looks up at the light that is suddenly blinding him to see the silhouette of a chameleon Mobian that he called his only remaining family. The feeling of hope had rushed back into his trauma ridden eyes as he let out an excited scream, kicking his tiny legs and yelling for Espio. 

The chameleon rushed over to his adopted son and untied him as quickly as he could, the bee’s shrieks of excitement turning into tears of joy as his four arms were freed. He lunged forward and wrapped them all around Espio tightly and sobbed into the cowl wrapped around his shoulder. Blood and tears stained Charmy’s face and fur as he clings for dear life to the man who raised him. Espio could only respond to the sight by combing his fingers through the bee fuzz around Charmy’s neck and hushing him.

“Shhhh… Shhh…. Charmy, I’m here. Everything will be alright.” Espio whispered against the child’s hair. Even he started to tear up which was extremely rare for the chameleon.

“I thought you died! I thought they killed you too!” Charmy screamed out in between his choked sobs. The bee’s voice was very hoarse as he cried.

Espio winced a bit, not at the sound of the boy’s shrieks, but at the feeling on his knees as he shifted them on the semi-dried blood on the bottom of the container. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to look but he noticed an unmoving silhouette in the corner of the container. He looked at it from where he was, mostly to make sure that it wasn’t a goon waiting to ambush. The figure was sitting, a blood trail led to the figure and it looked like they had a bag on their head, but it was just shielded enough by shadows that he couldn’t quite tell. 

He shook his head and closed his eyes, lifting the bee into his arms and backed out of the container, keeping his eyes glued on the figure until he was safely out. Pressing the side of Charmy’s head into his shoulder to keep him from looking back in there, he ran back to the group which was mostly finished with the goons. Mighty had one goon held up in his gloved claws, ready to crush it before he noticed Espio approaching with the child in his arms. 

Vector looked at Espio as well, immediately letting out a sigh of relief as he saw the bee. Part of him was still on the fence on whether this was a trap or not but, his conscious feels better now knowing that the kid was alive and not made up or dead. 

“Mighty! Escort ‘em outside. Imma look for the leader and deal with ‘im myself…” Vector growled as he cracked his knuckles and approached some metal stairs that led to the second floor of the warehouse.

Mighty snorted in response and smirked at the man in his claws before noting that the last two goons in the group were behind him with a flick of his ear. He turned quickly and chucked the goon in his claw at full power at the two others, obliterating them against a container instantaneously. He looked back at Espio with a comforting smile. 

“C’mon. Let’s get you two outta here and somewhere safe.” He cocked his head before leading them out of the storage building.

As they left the building, Charmy lifted his head to watch Vector make his way up the stairs. He could barely see through his tears but he could easily make out the bright green reptile against the metallic walls and dingy yellow containment units. Charmy, exhausted from everything he saw that day and from crying, drifted off to sleep in Espio’s arms, watching Vector disappear into the room upstairs.

“Thank you…” He mumbled softly.

Climbing the steps to the second floor, Vector easily barrelled his way through the remaining goons that attempted to stop him. Shouldering through the group, the large crocodile feels little remorse as some of the goons are tossed down to the floor below. Honestly, Vector could understand needing to do some shady shit to survive, but these thugs had taken it too far; kidnapping an innocent kid. Well if he had any say in it, they wouldn’t ever get the chance to do this again. 

Towards the back of the warehouse, right above where the kid had been found was another room, closed off and guarded by who Vector assumed were the last two thugs. Cracking his knuckles once more, the large Mobian stood before the two trembling hedgehogs with a grin. 

“Now. If I were you lot, I would take this chance to remain in my good graces and get outta here.”

One of the hedgehogs bravely raised her makeshift weapon, a hunk of rusty, metal pipe, and swung at Vector. Letting out a snort, the crocodile side-stepped, watching as the woman stumbled before he reached out, gripping her by the back of her ratty jacket and lifting her up. Spinning on his heel, he easily tosses the struggling woman at the other hedgehog, dusting his hands as the two lay unconscious on the floor in front of him. 

Heat filled his chest as he easily pushed the door open, coming to a stop upon seeing the leader of the group. Staring at the familiar face that stared back at him, Vector didn’t fight the heat that traveled up through his throat.

Rising from his desk, the hamster waves his hands. “Vector, please! I know how this looks but I swear I had no intention of skimping out on you! I was going to pay you as soon as you caught that traitor! I found out he had been taking from my funds and. Well. He had to be dealt with. You understand, don’t you?” 

Smoke billowed from his nostrils as guilt, disgust, and rage filled his chest. He was working for this sick bastard. A bastard that was willing to fucking kill an innocent kid… Vector didn’t hear any more of the man’s words as he opened his mouth, filling the room with flames.

**Author's Note:**

> I'M SORRY. This is a colab with my lovely @WebbiSnekki 
> 
> Anyway, this was just supposed to be one chapter but it was turning out WAY longer than I had planned so it'll be three instead! Please leave Kudos and comments if you liked it! I have most of the next chapter already written just gotta fluff it! I hope you guys have a nice day/night and I'll see you all next time!


End file.
